News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Clay County Commission approved a grant application for adding a new truck to the Clay County Solid Waste Department Monday night.
This is a Community Facility Grant through USDA Rural Development. Mayor Dale Reagan said the county has been looking to add a vehicle to the growing department for four years.
“Landfills are filling up and so I know that we’ve been talking about looking at the possibility of doing a transfer station in the future,” Reagan said. “That’s why we need a fleet, we need to start upgrading our fleets of trucks. Because once you do that, you’ve got to move that stuff, you’re gonna have to haul it.”
Reagan said the solid waste truck will cost between $85,000-$90,000. He said the grant will cover 35 percent of the cost and expects to hear whether the county got the grant in July or August.
“That’s the trucks we’ve been commonly been looking at,” Reagan said. “The last one that they did find for about $87,000, but it got gone just like that. So that’s why we’re kind of trying to get this ball rolling.”
Reagan said the county had been looking for a grant to put towards solid waste for sometime, but none were available until this one. Reagan said this new vehicle would be safer and more efficient for the department and employees.
“We’ve got an older truck that we probably won’t get rid of but it’s our backup truck,” Reagan said. “It doesn’t have the automatic tarping system on it and we’ve been blessed because the driver, he has to get out and physically put that tarp over the container.”
Reagan said the UCDD is administering the grant for Clay County. Clay County still needs to have its grant application accepted by the USDA.
